The implementation of such methodology in indonesia english language essay

Today, the Indonesian government implements the school-based curriculum in order to improve the competence of students. The curriculum is designed to provide the authority for school in Indonesian to formulate their own syllabus and learning framework with references to the standards of content and student graduation competency. The term of competence refers to a combination of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills ( Wong, 2008). Yet, most students in Indonesia do not have the three skills at one time. For example, the students master and solve the problem of the English grammar, but at the same time, they are lack in affective skills, such as moods and feelings. The combination of the three skills is the competence that will be the objective of the curriculum in Indonesia. For English language learning, the competence can be the ability of the students to communicate and achieved by using CLT methodology. Hymes (1980) said, ” The communicative competence refers to share understanding of meaning, rights and duties, norm of interaction, and ground of authority”. This methodology of CLT will covers the needs of students in mastering such communicative properties of language. Furthermore, students are expected to master the language to express facts, opinions and concepts, and know how the language was used and obtain the understanding the concept of grammar and meaning-based communication of the language at the same time (Allen and Widdowson, 1974). The under-five-year children, for instance, learn to communicate by adapting with some communicative properties, such as requesting, commanding, and tell something. On conveying something, they make many mistakes in grammar, but gradually, by frequently using the language and listening to other people, those children can analyse how to use language properly inductively. This concept is the same for the students who learn English by using CLT. One study (Richard, 1985) has shown that CLT method will meet the needs of students in terms of the nature of verbal communication, such as the meaning-based communication, conventional, appropriateness, interactional, and structured or grammar. To sum up, The understanding of meaning, grammar input, appropriateness in expressing ideas, and all students’ needs for communicative properties can be covered by CLT methodology. However, both the implementation of the curriculum and application of communicative competence by using CLT methodology is greatly far from expectation. The delivery the English lesson by using CLT methodology is challenging for English teachers in Indonesia. One study by Lie (2007) revealed that many English teachers in Indonesia are not active users of English language. Thus, the teachers find difficulties to transfer communicative competence of language to their students. In addition, Lesson plans prepared by the teachers may not be consistent with the objectives of teaching CLT, in which the situational setting in classroom does not represent the communicative function of language (Tsui, 2001). For example, the teacher provides a dialogue to be practised by the students. This activity looks as if the implementation of communication is implemented well , but it is not, for the students will memorize the dialogue and the competence of communication may not be achieved. Next, the majority of English teacher in Indonesia is texbook-driven teachers. Before applying CLT, for example, the English teachers teach grammar usage specifically with the assumption that the students will be able to communicate effectively by understanding the grammar well. It is caused by a difference of concept understood among English teachers about the teaching process in CLT, whether providing linguistic competence first then teach communicative competence or otherwise (Allwright, 1977). Consequently, the students is to speak falteringly because of recalling grammar patterns in their mind before they speak. Although the curriculum and the lesson plans are labelled as communicative approach, the teachers still use the structured-oriented textbook and are lack of sources of communicative-oriented textbook. In addition, the challenge faced the English tecahers in Indonesia is the class size. Most schools in Indonesia, the number of the students in a class is between 40 and 50 students. No matter how good teachers are, they will find great difficulties to deliver communicative competence of English language. After all, the teaching English by implementing CLT methodology is quite challenging for the English teachers in Indonesia. Not only the teachers, but the students also face some challenges while learning English by adopting CLT methodology. It is true that the students in Indonesia have been learning English for 5 years or more, but the ability to communicate is remain poor. As Widdowson (1978) puts it: The problem is that students, and students especially in developing countries, who have received several years of formal English teaching, frequently remain deficient in the ability to actually use the language, and to understand its use, in normal communication, whether in the spoken or the written mode. Firstly, the challenge could be derived from EFL learning environment (Lie, 2008). The students in remote area, for example, have difficulties to access resources for self-access learning centre such as language laboratory and adequate library resources. Because English is a foreign language in Indonesia and the national examination in written form, there are no insistent needs to have communicative competence in English. Another factor derived from environment is no quite exposure for the students to practice their communication. To illustrate, the students who live in non-tourist destination find difficulties to practice English in real context with native speakers, on the other hand, the students living in the tourist areas, such as Sabang and Bali island, have chance to make conversation to native speakers. In-class environment, the teachers tend to create formal athmosphere in classroom. The students in formal class, because of being afraid of negative judgement from teachers and other student, avoid making errors in communication. To the contrary, the less-formal class can create wellbeing of interpersonal and closeness between the teachers and students (Senior, 2006). The less-formal atmosphere classroom, in addition, may make students feel free to express their opinions and never feel embarassed if they make some errors in communication. Secondly, the challenge faced by the students is the incompetence of the English teacher in delivering English by using CLT methodology. The teacher, in fact, teach structured-dialogue for communication for the students and gear them towards the test. therefore, the students do not obtain the real needs for communicative competence. The last challenge for the students is the mismatch the lesson plans designed by the teachers between the needs of communicative competence and the test in the ends of each semester, namely written test. in brief, the environment, the incompetence of teacher and mismatch of lesson plans lead to great challenge to the students in mastering communicative competence. From the discussion above, it shows that the focus of CLT methodolgy is generally the implementation of programs or curriculum and methodologies that support functional language skills through learning participation in communicative activities. Also, The CLT methodology provides positive objective and needs in communicative competence for the students by implementing CLT methodology. As discussed, the implementation of CLT methodology find some difficulties that challenge the teachers and students. For the teacher, most of them do not understand to implement the methodology as it should. Consequently, this incompetence inhibits the students to obtain the learning process of communicative competence of language, besides the environment and the mismatch of the lesson plans are also the inhibiting factors for the students. It is supposed that he stakeholders of Indonesia conduct teacher training for the perception of the CLT, and encourage the teachers to change their teaching style, that is, from style of teacher-centred to student-centred learning, and improve their teaching skill of CLT methodology. Also, it is improtant that the stakeholder revise the policy of the textbook contents which emphasis on communicative competence. Furthermore, it is suggested that the English teachers conduct mini research to find out the difficulties or obstacles experienced by students in English communication, since it concerns to their professionalism in teaching and learning. In conclusion, by combining the CLT methodology which emphasize to the meaning-based and on understanding the concept of the English conversation, the competence of the teachers, and matching the lesson plans to communicative purpose will lead the students know how to communicate in English effectively.